DC Takeover
by Kristen Verne
Summary: Peace has come to Cybertron at last! So the humans decide to treat some of their Autobot friends to a vacation... in Washington DC. What kind of craziness could happen with a group of Autobots having free-reign in the US capital? Transformers and it's characters belongs to Hasbro! Darkstorm, Skybreak, and Emusa belong to Dream's Realm! Skye belongs to Blondie-moyashi!
1. Chapter 1

**The DC Takeover**

This is a fun story based on my own vacation experience in Washington DC.

I own no characters!

All the Transformers characters belong to Hasbro!

Darkstorm, Skybreak, and Emusa belong to Dream's Realm!

Skye belongs to Blondie-moyashi!

I hope you guys enjoy it!

* * *

** Day 1: Arrival **

"Why did I ever agree to this?" Knockout looked over at his sparkmate.

Emusa just sighed, "Your former apprentice is sure persuasive. I never thought you would agree to something like this."

"So," Skybreak entered the room, "You two are joining us as well?"

"Thanks to your sister, it seems so."

The doors opened again; Bumblebee, Darkstorm, Dreadwing, Moonracer, Predaking, Flareup, Darksteel, Skylynx, Elita, and Optimus, who carried his infant son, Rodimus, in his arms.

"So, are we going or not?" Flareup huffed.

Darkstorm flipped the lever, activating the spacebridge. "Let's go!"

They went through, arriving in at a military base, back on earth. "Welcome back!"

"I was wondering where you guys were." Arcee, Jack, Raf, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, Miko, Agent Fowler, Colonel Lennox, Smokescreen, and his sparkmate, Skye awaited them.

"So what's the plan?"

Colonel Lennox smiled, "We decided to let you guys have a vacation here on earth. Since you guys are rebuilding your world, we decided to treat you to guys to a 6 day stay in our nation's capital, Washington DC."

"Let me guess," Emusa vented, "we're going to spend six days in our holoforms, and basically live as humans for six days?"

"Great…"

Darkstorm giggled, "It's going to be so much fun!" As always, Darkstorm was super excited, and her enthusiasm rubbed off on everyone else.

"Come on! Let's get started! The Autobots activated their holoforms. Emusa pulled at the human clothing before brushing a strand of strawberry red hair behind her ear.

"Now," Agent Fowler turned to the other humans, "most of your names wouldn't work for humans, so the kids have thought up some human names for you guys to use."

Darksteel bounded forward, excited, "What name did you give me? Is it cool?"

"I picked yours and Slylynx's. The name I picked was Dustin; what do you think?" Raf spoke with nearly the same excitement as the Predacon youngling.

"Dustin… I love it!" He turned around. "Carrier! What do you think?"

Flareup rolled her eyes before chuckling, "It fits you."

The youngling dragged his brother forward, much to his annoyance. "What name did you give Skylynx?"

"Sloan… that's the name I picked."

Skylynx cocked his head. "Sloan's a cool name."

"Now, that they younglings are satisfied, what are our names?"

Skye smiled at them. "Emusa, we picked the name Emma for you, so we can still call you Em at times. Doc Knock, we chose Kurt."

"Kurt and Emma… I guess that'll do…"

"What about us," Moonracer asked, "I mean, Dreads and I."

"We chose the name Melody for you, and for Dreads we picked Daniel.

Jack looked over at the others. "Predaking, we picked out the name Pierce for you, and we chose Fina for Flareup." The two nodded in approval. "We chose Scott for Skybreak and Jarrett for Wheeljack."

"Scott... like Scott Summers?" Skybreak asked with a nod.

"Yep!"

"How about us?" Elita stepped forward, holding Rodimus, who squirmed as he tried to get used to the strange feeling of his holoform.

"Since Optimus uses his former name, Orion, for his holoform, we decided to use your former name, Ariel, as well." Skye smiled before coming over and ruffling Rodimus's brown hair. "For the little guy here, we picked an easy name: Ray." The baby giggled at her touch.

Bumblebee felt his sparkmate's joy and nervousness through their bond. He looked at her holoform, which had changed to compensate for her being sparked. He sent his love back through the bond as Darkstorm's hand went to her slightly swollen abdomen. Every time she saw Rodimus, she thought of their unborn daughter and what she would be like.

"The others already have alias's. Arcee is Amy, Bulkhead is Bane, Bee is Brian, and Darkstorm is Dawn."

"Sounds good!"

"If you don't mind me saying," Flareup cut in, "why are we starting the vacation when it's nearly five in the evening? Why wouldn't we start it in the morning?"

Lennox smiled. "We did that on purpose, to give you guys a taste of normal human life in DC. We're going to take the subway to the hotel… during rush hour." All the bot's with Automobile alt modes groaned slightly; they all knew of rush hour.

"This'll be fun…"

"Don't worry," Jack chuckled, "it won't be any longer than usual, the train will just have a lot more people in it."

Arcee nodded, "Ok… that's a little better."

Miko went about, handing everyone a card. "This will get you into the subway; don't lose it."

"Now," Fowler said, "The hotel we're staying at is the Arlington Suites in Virginia. All the rooms are prepped. The bonded couples will share a room and if they have kids, their kids will room with them. Darkstorm and Bumblebee have offered to let Raf stay with them. The rest of the mechs will share a room as will the femmes."

"Pit yeah!" Skybreak laughed, "That means me, Dreads, Bulk, Jackie, and Jack are sharing a room. We are gonna party!"

"Don't party too hard or you're gonna be tired when we do all the walking tomorrow… and no high grade!"

He pouted, "Aw, Skye, you're no fun."

"Well," Arcee sighed, "at least you're not sharing a room with two horror-movie junkies."

Miko smirked at Moonracer, "Hey, I looked at our channel list and we get this vampire show called _The Strain_."

"Sounds great!" This reply made Arcee groan.

"Hey! Let's get to DC already!"

Lennox smiled, "Ok…" He started up the groundbridge. "We're bridging into a room right off the Metro Subway station."

"Let's get this vacation started!" The group walked through the bridge into a room that was just big enough for all of them.

They walked out the door and had to stop; the station was packed. "Welcome to subway rush hour."

Flareup and Predaking grabbed their sons' hands to prevent from getting separated. The group pushed through the crowd, moving with the flow of traffic to where the trains were. Coming to the entrance the bots watched as the kids scanned their cards and walked through; they followed suit.

"We're taking the train to the Court House stop."

The group pushed their way onto one of the trains, forcefully. They stood in very close quarters to everyone on the train.

Darkstorm placed a hand on her abdomen and breathed deeply. "Miss," she looked up and saw a man looking at her.

"Yes…"

He stood, "Would you like my seat?"

"Why thank you!" She sat down gratefully.

Bumblebee pushed his way to her, "Dawn, are you ok?"

"I'm fine Brian."

The man reached out his hand to Bee, "Hello, I'm James."

"Brian… Thank you for letting my wife sit down."

James smiled, "How many months?"

"Huh?"

"You're wife, Dawn was it," he asked, "She's pregnant, right?" The couple nodded. "How many months?"

Darkstorm smiled, "Four…"

"Boy or girl?"

"A girl…"

"Well, congratulations," James smiled gently. "What stop are ya'll getting off at?"

Bee looked over at him, "Court House. What about you?"

"Rosslyn. I'm here on a business trip, what about you?"

"We're here with some friends and family for vacation." Darkstorm replied.

_Next stop, Rosslyn_

James huffed, "That was fast; well, it was nice meeting you."

"You as well," Darkstorm gave a kind grin, "and thank you for the seat."

The subway stopped and the man shook both their hands before leaving the train. "He was nice…"

_Next stop, Court House _

The Cybertronian group shoved their way off the train. Emusa stretched, "That was horribly cramped!"

"That we can agree on," Arcee nodded.

Miko chuckled, "Come on, guys, we have to walk to the hotel from here."

"Walk…"

"Don't complain, Skybreak, it's not that far." The large group walked through the crowded tunnels up to street level.

Bulkhead smirked, "Fresh air! Now, how far is the hotel?"

"Right down the road."

"And where are you two headed?" Everyone turned and saw Fowler and Lennox walking away.

The special agent smiled back at them, "To get ya'll some dinner. You guys go ahead to the hotel and we'll meet you there."

The two headed for a black SUV as the others headed for the road. "It's just this way."

They walked down the sidewalk for about two minutes. "Are we really going to be walking a lot?"

"Yep. We'll take the subway for long distances but we'll be walking mostly. It won' be too bad, but you'll find out what sore feet feel like."

"Oh yea…"

Darksteel and Skylynx bounced around, looking around at every building and sight. "Hey!" Darksteel pointed, "Is that the hotel?"

"Yep, the Arlington Suites." Predaking had to grab his two sons by their shirt collars to keep them from rushing forward.

A quick walk forward and the group soon stood in the hotel lobby. Jack pulled out some cards. "Here are your room keys. Fowler will give us a call when they bring in dinner; we'll meet on the mezzanine floor. That's it, vacation has officially begun!"

* * *

Darkstorm, Bumblebee, and Raf entered their hotel room. "You guys really outdid yourself with this vacation."

"Aw…" Raf blushed, "it was no trouble. We wanted you guys to have some fun."

"Well, this is wonderful. Thank you." Darkstorm sat on the bed. She looked up and saw her sparkmate reaching for the TV remote. "Don't you dare, Bee. Dinner is coming soon; we'll watch TV afterwards."

"Yes dear…"

* * *

The door to the room opened, letting the two younglings dash in. Darksteel and Skylynx leapt onto the bed. "The berths are so soft!"

"Stop jumping on them!"

"Yes carrier…" the two got off the beds.

Flareup looked around at the room. A small smile crossed her features when she saw the coffee maker; she may not have like too much of earth food but she did like coffee. "This doesn't look too bad."

"No it does not, I believe this will be quite enjoyable… our sons seem to be enjoying it already."

The younglings flopped back on the bed, burying their faces in the pillows. "SSSSSOOOOOOFFFFFFTTTTTTT"

Predaking and Flareup chuckled at the silliness of their sons.

* * *

Jack, Wheeljack, Bulkhead, Skybreak, and Dreadwing entered the large hotel room. "All right! Time for the mechs to PARTY!"

"Remember what Skye said," Dreadwing chided, "Don't party too hard."

Jack chuckled, "Don't worry, I came prepared. I knew who I was rooming with so I brought a whole collection of action and war movies for us to watch."

"Ok…" Wheeljack picked up a green, intricately designed box, "_Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_? That sounds interesting…"

"You guys would love that series. It would take us three nights to finish the series but ya'll will love it."

Bulkhead cheered, "Then let's get this party started!"

"Pit yea!"

* * *

Optimus held the door to their room open as Elita carried Rodimus inside; the sparkling slept contentedly in his carrier's arms.

"Oh, they didn't have to do this…" the femme smiled. Beside the double bed sat a crib for Rodimus. There was also a stroller and a bag for them to carry some stuff for the little mech.

"They really wanted to bless us with this vacation," Optimus smiled, "We will have to thank them for all this."

His sparkmate laid their son in the crib, smiling at his peaceful expression. "This truly is a blessing."

* * *

"No horror movies!" Arcee huffed as she entered the room.

"Aw," Moonracer sighed, "you're no fun."

"Yea," Miko agreed, "to quote _The Nightmare Before Christmas, _'Life's no fun without a good scare'. Speaking of which, I brought that movie!"

"Woo hoo!"

The two-wheeler groaned, "Oh yea…"

* * *

Smokescreen opened the hotel door with a grin. "Our own little room… just the two of us."

"Oh stop it…" the brit rolled her eyes with a laugh as she entered.

"Why?" Her husband began tickling Skye. "Don't you like spending time with me…?"

"Stop!" Skye laughed, playfully pushed him.

He stopped, smiling widely, "Maybe we'll be able to spend some time, just the two of us."

"Oh don't worry. We set up a date night for all the couples. So, how does a romantic Italian dinner by moonlight sound?"

Planting a kiss on her lips, he grinned, "Anything with you sounds amazing!"

* * *

Knock Out sat on the bed, his sparkmate looking around the room.

"So, there's a bathroom, a little kitchen, and a small couch before the TV… not much is here."

"There doesn't have to be much," the medic smiled, taking off his sunglasses, "It's only for temporary stays anyway."

Sitting beside him, Emusa leaned on Knock Out. "I must say, it is nice to relax for a while… even though we have to use these slagging holoforms."

"It actually sounds like it'll be fun, despite the 'slagging holoforms' and we'll get to have an 'adventure' here on earth."

"An adventure is right… but, it does sound fun." She looked out their room window, the buildings spread out before them and, despite some of the group's blatant annoyance with human kind, this truly seemed like it would be an enjoyable vacation.

* * *

This isn't a fast-paced story but a fun one. This is a short chapter, but the fun will really start in the next one.

**Day 2: Spaced Out China Town**


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone!

This story got some recognition last time.

This story and every experience is truly based after my own personal trip, just for clarity.

I do not own transformers or its characters; they belong to Hasbro!

Darkstorm, Skybreak, and Emusa belong to Dream's Realm!

Skye belongs to Blondie- moyashi!

* * *

**Day 2: Spaced Out China Town**

Skye stretched as she and her sparkmate went up to the hotel breakfast on the eighth floor. "That was a wonderful sleep!"

"It sure was!" Smokescreen smiled at her before looking up, "There are the others."

The entire group, save Agent Fowler and Colonel Lennox, sat in the back of the room around a large table. "Let's get the food, then we'll join them."

As they approached the table with their food, Darkstorm giggled happily, "This is great, but it's nothing compared to dinner last night."

"Yea," her brother nodded, "where did ya'll get the food from again?"

"Chick-fil-a!" Miko smiled, "The Jesus chicken!"

Jack laughed at the confused faces of the others, "She only calls it that because the owners are Christians and their company reflects that, and they have the greatest chicken on earth."

"My sister, Abigail, insists that there will be Chick-fil-a in heaven," Raf added with a smile.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Skybreak grinned, "that was some good food."

Predaking took a bite of sausage before looking to Jack. "So, what exactly are we doing today?"

"Today, we're going to go visit the Smithsonian Air and Space museum, go to the capitol building, and then have dinner in Chinatown."

"Air and Space museum?"

Raf nodded, "There's a lot of cool stuff in there over the history of human aircraft and space travel. I heard that the first airplane ever build… the ACTUAL plane is in there."

"That is cool!"

Skylynx took a bite of his Froot Loops before speaking, "When are we going?"

"In about an hour."

Optimus stood, taking his son in his arms, "We best get ready then."

* * *

The group walked up the road towards the subway station. Wheeljack picked up a stick and smiled, "With my life, I will protect you… you have my sword!"

"And my bow!" Skybreak picked up a slightly curved stick.

Bulkhead grabbed a thicker stick, "And my ax!" The three mechs laughed, while Dreadwing just shook his head.

"What have I done?" Jack chuckled. He smiled at the questioning glances of the others, "I showed them a movie last night and now they're obsessed."

"You showed them _Lord of the Rings_… real smart move Darby."

Darkstorm raised an eyebrow at her brother. "And what was this movie about?"

"It was amazing! This dark lord was trying to take over the land of Middle Earth. He needed this magic ring and so this Hobbit named Frodo was gonna take it into the land of Mordor and destroy it. He went with three other Hobbits named Sam, Merry, and Pippin, an elf named Legolas, a dwarf named Gimli, two men named Aragorn and Boromir, and a wizard named Gandalf. They ended up in a mine where they fought a bunch of monsters and then a demon of the underworld, Gandalf fell. At the end there was this big battle and Boromir died in a totally epic way!"

"It sounds violent…"

"Oh," Dreadwing agreed, "very much so, yet it had a great story and was very much enjoyable."

Wheeljack grinned, "Movie two tonight!"

"Pit yeah!"

Emusa rolled her eyes as they went down into the underground tunnels, "what did you expect from a bunch of mechs rooming together?"

"Excuse me…" Darksteel asked, "but what stop are we getting off at, this time?"

"Smithsonian." Miko stretched, "Fowler and Lennox are going to meet us at the museum."

The group boarded the much less crowded train and headed off.

"Hey!" Darkstorm and Bumblebee looked up to see the man from the night before. "Didn't expect to see you two again."

"Hello, James." Darkstorm smiled, "Where are you heading this morning?"

The man sat in a seat near the couple, "I have a meeting in the capitol building with my senator. What about you?"

"We're going to the Air and Space museum."

"That sounds fun! They've got a flight simulator in there, but I wouldn't recommend it for you, Dawn. G-forces and jolting aren't very good for pregnant women."

She nodded, "I've been flying more times than I can count, so it's fine."

"Really?"

"I… own a Lockheed U2."

James gaped at this, "I've never been in one of those, is it fun?"

"Oh, more than you know!"

_Next stop Smithsonian _

"That would be ours," Bee stood, shaking the man's hand, "It was good to see you again."

"Nice to see you again too."

As the large group exited, Elita pushed Rodimus in his stroller up to the couple, "Who was he? I've seen you talk to him twice on the subway."

"Just some guy who gave up his seat for Storm last night. He's pretty nice."

They came up by a street and followed this kids down it. "What's that?"

"That, Moon, is the castle," Skye informed her, "it was the original Smithsonian building but it wasn't big enough to hold all the stuff. The Smithsonian is divided into multiple museums around the mall. We'll go visit that one later on in the week."

They reached the Air and Space museum and saw their two government escorts awaiting them. "There ya'll are!"

"So this is the museum? Doesn't look like much…"

"Just wait," Lennox smiled, "now, if you would all follow me, I'll start the tour." Once inside, in the center of the room, all could see a cone shaped pod with a small top and a wide base. The base looked charred. "Now," Lennox turned about, "does anyone know what this is?"

"Nope…"

"Ok," the colonel placed his hand on the glass by the base, "Does anyone know what happened in 1969?"

"The first moon landing…" all eyes looked to Miko. "What? That's the only thing I remember from history class."

"Miko is correct; humans first landed on the moon in 1969. The technology, when you look at it, barely got them there and, even compared to our tech now, was pretty dinky. This pod was what the astronauts used to return to earth."

Wheeljack cocked his head, "This thing? How did that work without killing them?"

"The pod activated parachutes when it got low enough in the atmosphere and crashed into the ocean," Raf explained, "the bottom is black from reentry."

The wrecker placed his hand on the pod, "Those humans had bearings, I'll give them that. Hey Bulk, get over here; Miko, snap a pic."

"Move over," Skybreak came over beside Wheeljack and struck a pose, "I'm getting in this." The wrecker femme pulled out her phone and took the picture.

"Carrier! Carrier! Can we take one too?" Darksteel grabbed Flareup's servo.

Fowler looked at them, "I brought a camera for pictures, so if they want to…"

"Fine… come on, Fido." The family of four got in front of the pod as the special agent took a picture. She looked down at her sons, "Now we can't stop and take pictures of everything…"

"Awww…"

The group chuckled. Lennox waved to them," They'll be plenty of things to take photos of, now follow me."

They went through the exhibit about commercial air travel and two words caught the two Predacon youngling's attention. "Flight simulator?"

"They have a flight simulator here?!" Miko exclaimed, "We've gotta do it!"

She rushed forward, before turning around, "I call Bulkhead as my co-pilot!"

"Slow down, Miko," Fowler looked at the sign before turning to the others, "Do you guys wanna do it?"

"What is it," Emusa read the sign. A two person flight simulator with one person as a pilot and the other as a gunner.

Her sparkmate shrugged, "Sounds interesting. Wanna be my copilot, sweetspark?"

"As long as I get to be gunner, I'm for it."

Darkstorm giggled, "So we have Miko and Bulkhead and then Knock Out and Emusa… anyone else?"

"Hey Raf," Bee smirked, "Wanna do it?"

"I fly you shoot?"

"Yep!"

Raf smiled, "We're in!"

"Moonracer and I will try it as well," Dreadwing added.

Skybreak scowled at them, "Ok… so an expert flier as the pilot and an expert sharpshooter as the gunner... that's hardly fair!"

"So, whatdaya say we tag-team on them and kick their butts?" Wheeljack offered.

Skybreak smirked, "Pit yeah!"

"So, looks like it'll be Knock Out and Emusa, Bulkhead and Miko, Raf and Bee, Dreads and Moon, Wheeljack and Skybreak, and then myself and Jack," Arcee added.

"Count me and Fido in too," Flareup smiled, "the boys decided to do the virtual roller coaster, so we'll do the flight simulator."

Fowler came over to them with the tickets, "Just go on it and have some fun."

Raf and Bee went in first, the Autobot scout climbed in first, taking the gunner's seat while Raf went in next. The others watched on the two screens that showed the two inside and what they were seeing.

The two began the simulator and the pod began turning as Raf began flying the virtual jet. The two destroyed 10 jets, much to the surprise of the workers.

Lennox smirked at one of the workers, "What is the record of planes destroyed in the simulator?"

"Some military guys came in here once and destroyed 22."

"Prepare to have that record blown out of the water!"

"Hey," Skybreak looked to Skye and Smokescreen, "aren't you two gonna do it?"

The girl shook her head, "It's too tight a fit for my prosthetic so we're going to ride the roller coaster with the boys."

The teams went into the simulator and all did wonderfully and had a great time. Knock Out and Emusa destroyed 14, Bulkhead and Miko got 11, Arcee and Jack destroyed 16, Predaking and Flareup got 21, while Wheeljack and Skybreak got 24.

"Try and beat that, you two!" Skybreak called as Moonracer and Dreadwing entered the simulator, Moon taking the gunner's seat while Dreadwing took the pilot's.

Miko leaned over to Bulkhead, "I'm betting they're gonna get 26."

"I think they're gonna get 28."

Skye, Smokescreen, and the younglings just climbed out of the Cosmic Coaster as the seeker and sharpshooter began the simulation. All cheered as enemy plane after plane went down; Skybreak cringed as the gap between their score and his score closed.

Miko turned back to the seeker, "Take that sucker!" The simulation ended with the score being 32.

"Skri'brak," Dreadwing smirked as he saw the glare from his friend, "I believe the saying is, 'you mad bro'?"

The room erupted into gales of laughter, even from the workers. Only Skybreak scowled. "Oh, ha, ha! Very funny, Daniel."

"We sure thought so!"

They continued on though the exhibits, Skybreak's mood began to improve. The Autobots were intrigued by the history of the human aircraft. They stopped and read everything; the wreckers especially liked reading about the WW1 pilot, the Red Baron.

Around one o'clock, the Darksteel pulled on his carrier's sleeve, "I'm hungry, Carrier."

"I am too, Carrier, and my pedes hurt."

"Jack," Flareup sighed, "When are we going to break for lunch?"

The boy smiled, "That's where we're heading right now. They've got some McDonalds right over there."

"Yes!"

It took them a bit, but they all received their food and took a seat. Wheeljack kicked off his shoes as they sat down, "So this is what you meant about sore feet?"

The others followed his example, allowing their feet to relax. "This museum is taking longer than I thought it would."

"Well," Fowler smiled, "we did stop for that flight simulator…"

"Where we dominated!" Moonracer cheered, drawing the attention of some people nearby.

"Melody," Elita held up a hand to calm the femme, "you're causing a scene."

"Sorry…"

"How is he tired?" Miko gave a playful glare at Optimus and Elita's son, who slept in his stroller contentedly. "He didn't walk any."

The infant woke up, yawning before he giggled up at the wild teenager. His father picked the mechling up and smiled. Pulling a bottle of milk from his sparkmate's bag, he began to feed his son.

"Now that is cute!"

Elita chuckled, "Don't tease Orion too much, your time will come, Skye."

Leaning over to Smokescreen, Skybreak whispered, "And it better not be too soon… you got me Praxian?"

"I do…"

"Good… ow!" he turned to see Skye glowering at him. "What was that for, kid?"

"For messing with my husband, that's what."

"Messing?" the seeker scoffed, "I wasn't messing around; I was being completely serious." This resulted in another punch to his shoulder. "Would you cut that out!"

Miko leaned over to the other two wreckers, "This is better than him and Storm fighting. At least Skye is actually hurting him." Even Flareup and Predaking chuckled at the two arguing.

"And what's up with you girly?" Emusa smirked at Darkstorm, "you look distracted." The seeker did not have to answer as her hand went to her abdomen. "Oh… thinking about the little Darkstorm on the way?"

"Oh!" Storm blushed.

"You shouldn't be teasing either, Em, cause your day may come even sooner than Skye's." Flareup smirked as both the femme and her sparkmate blushed.

Miko laughed, "The way those two are blushing, it might have already happened and they're just keeping it a secret."

"Don't you even start that!" Knock Out pointed at the human.

"Remember what you said to me," Storm added, "De Nile is a river in Africa." Everyone laughed.

Arcee chuckled, "I think that's enough teasing for today… don't want things to get ugly."

"Thought they already did…"

* * *

After lunch the group got back to the tour, Emusa raised an eyebrow at a sign above a room. "Wright Bros. Bicycle Co.? What's that about?"

"This is probably, for me at least, the coolest thing here." Fowler led them inside; he pointed to a wood and canvas contraption in the center of the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give the very first airplane."

"This thing?"

Dreadwing scrutinized the plane, "It is a marvel that it got off the ground."

"Yes it is."

Raf pointed, "If you look close, one wing of the plane is longer than the other. They did that on purpose to account for the engine weight on one side."

"That's a lot of work… how long did it fly for?"

Lennox placed his hand on the railing, "It was only for 12 seconds but it was the beginning of the aircraft."

"Twelve seconds… it's not long, but it caught attention."

"This thing is amazing," Darkstorm gawked, "humans never cease to amaze me with their creativity and ingenuity."

Elita nodded, "They are a truly amazing species."

* * *

They walked about the space side, looking at the history of human space travel. The Predacon younglings dashed about, wanting to take pictures with everything.

Finally, they went outside. The sky was clouded over and it felt cool outside and many people walked about the grassy place in the center of the mall. The group went to the grass and sat down, again resting their feet.

"What's that building there?" Skylynx pointed to the building with a dome roof.

"That's the capitol building." Even his carrier recognized the building.

Jack stood up, "We'll go over there in a bit, but first, who's hungry?"

"That would be everyone."

The boy smiled, "I'll be back in a minute." He came back with his arms full of ice cream sandwiches. "Here we are…"

The younglings got theirs first and waited, watching as the humans took off the wrapping and began to eat. Darksteel followed suit first; as he bit into the snack, his golden eyes lit up happily. "This is amazing!"

"I figured ya'll would like it."

Darkstorm stuffed the treat into her mouth. "Oh! How human food never ceases to amaze me!"

"And your appetite never ceases to amaze the rest of us," Emusa smirked.

"Storm," Lennox chuckled, "When we go to the restaurant tonight, you'll have to eat slower. It's better manners for fancier eating places."

"I will try…"

* * *

The company walked up the steps to the capitol building, Fowler hanging back for a second as they got higher up the steps. "Hold it, you guys!" They all turned and saw him with the camera. "Hold still so I can take a picture."

okThe younglings jumped in front posing for the picture. A couple of the others threw up peace signs, with Miko doing the 'rock on' sign, but most just smiled.

After the picture, Skye leaned onto her sparkmate's shoulder, "What a great view!"

And it truly was. The pond stretched before them as the grass amid the mall spread out further; on the far end, the Washington monument stood tall, pointing heavenward.

The others admired the view as well; even little Rodimus stretched his tiny fingers out towards the monument.

* * *

Coming off the subway again, Predaking stopped, "What does that mean?"

"Hm," Miko came up beside him, looking at the strange writing beside the store name. "I can read a little Chinese but I'm going to guess it's the name of the store in Chinese."

"You're Japanese, right?" Wheeljack asked.

She nodded, "This is Chinatown so most places will be Chinese, but a few restaurants may be Japanese as well."

Going down the street, they could see every store name was written in English and Chinese. Fowler led them into a Chinese restaurant and they took a seat.

Dinner was fairly quiet for all were tired after the long day.

"So," Arcee said after swallowing a bite of chow mein, "is this it for the day?"

"Yep. We're just gonna relax at the hotel. We have a full day tomorrow."

Moon's eyes sparkled, "Ooo! What are we doing tomorrow?"

"We're going to the Archives, then the Natural History museum, and then the US History museum."

Taking a drink of tea, Elita smiled, "That sounds interesting."

"You know," Emusa sighed, "today has been enjoyable."

"Yes, and I really enjoyed the flight simulator," her sparkmate added.

Optimus ruffled his son's thin layer of hair before looking to the humans, "Thank you for treating us to this, it is quite fun."

"Yes, thank you!"

The humans smiled, "Think nothing of it. You guys have done more than enough for us, it's the least we could do."

"Now," Skybreak stretched, "let's get back to the hotel already! I wanna start watching _Lord of the Ring: The Two Towers_!"

"Oh frag yes!"

"Pit yea!

Jack hung his head, "Oh, what have I done…?"

* * *

Oh the silliness… What else could they get into?

Please review!

Next time… **Day 3: Natural American Archives!**


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys! I hope ya'll are having a great week!

These next two chapters are gonna be less funny and more serious with some of the things they'll see.

I would like to thank all who reviewed, favorited, and followed!

I do not own transformers or its characters; they belong to Hasbro!

Darkstorm, Skybreak, and Emusa belong to Dream's Realm!

Skye belongs to Blondie- moyashi!

* * *

**Day 3: Natural American Archives**

* * *

Darkstorm rolled her eyes as her brother talked about their movie last night. He hadn't stopped talking about the epic battle of Helm's Deep, she thought it was.

"It's nice of you two to join us." Arcee smirked, looking up at the late arrivals of Emusa and Knock Out. "I hope you're not too sore."

"Very funny…"

Elita shook her head, "It seems we can't go five minutes without teasing on another."

"We're a family," Moonracer smiled, "it's what families do!"

* * *

The group got off the subway and approached a large marble building. Fowler and Lennox awaited them. "Hey everyone! Hope you all had a good night."

"Good sleep, good food, good company…"

"Though I think someone's annoyed," Miko jabbed her thumb at Flareup, who silently glared at the Japanese girl.

Bulkhead looked to his charge, "What did you do, Miko?"

"I just loaned her and Predaking a movie, last night."

"What movie…?"

Flareup snapped, "Please don't ask…" whipping around to her sparkmate, she pointed, "And don't you tell them either."

Predaking grinned before saying, "As you wish."

"Oh my gosh!" Skye laughed, quickly catching the reference, "You loaned them _The Princess Bride_! That is awesome!"

"And annoying…" Flareup glared at the Predacon.

Lennox chuckled, "Well, sounds like it's going to be an interesting day today." He turned, "Ok, now on with the day… this is the National Archives building. Inside, the three most important documents in American history are preserved: The Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. There are a few other exhibits, but those three are the biggest things."

They went inside a side entrance, since they were special government guests, they didn't have to wait in the long lines to get in. However, they were still searched.

"What is with all the security? I mean, we have to be searched everywhere we go."

"Sorry Skybreak," Fowler sighed, "There is more paranoia, especially in the capitol, after 9/11."

"9/11?" Darksteel cocked his head.

Raf frowned, "We'll explain later; there's a whole exhibit for it in one of the museums we'll visit later. In a nutshell, it's a dark day and our country hasn't been the same since."

"Oh…"

Moving quickly through the first number of exhibits, they climbed upstairs and entered a darkened room. In the dim lights, a semicircle of glass covered pedestals, rounded the back of the room. Optimus approached the three large documents displayed in the center. His eyes scanned over the yellowed, faded paper.

"This is amazing," Dreadwing came beside him and looked. "A country, built on freedom and the Word of God, and these are the documents that founded it."

Optimus nodded, "I plan on getting a copy of these. I hope to create our government back on Cybertron after this one."

"If you do," Lennox smirked, "go ahead and edit them to suit your needs. Our system may be good, but it is full of flaws."

"Every government is and will be. We must try to work with and around them."

"Very true…"

* * *

"That was kinda boring." Skylynx moaned, "All they had there was old papers."

Jack shook his head with a smile. "I think you'll find the Natural History museum a bit more interesting."

"I hear they have a new dinosaur exhibit!"

"Cool!"

They went into the building and the two Predacon younglings smiled "WHOA!" A large tyrannosaurs-rex skeleton stood in the middle of the room. "Cool!"

"They look like us, kinda."

Skye smiled at the youngling, "They kinda do. That's a dinosaur skeleton."

Darksteel grinned excitedly, "Do they have any live ones here?"

"Sorry," Lennox shook his head, "they died off a long time ago. Since there aren't any more, they display the fossils and we can get an idea of what they were like. This one was called a tyrannosaurs-rex; because of its size and large teeth we believe it was a predator."

Jack motioned to the left, "Come on, they have some exhibits this way. They're about the ocean."

Going into the next hall, Wheeljack gaped, "Primus! That thing is huge!" All eyes lifted upwards to see the large creature hanging from the ceiling. "What is that?"

"That my friends, is a life-size model of a blue whale. They're the biggest mammals on the planet."

"Cool!"

Looking around at all the strange creatures, the Autobots were amazed. "These creatures actually exist?"

"They live in the deepest part of the ocean. Lots of other strange animals live down there."

"Like the megaladon!" Miko grinned.

Jack hung his head, "Ever since you saw that Shark Week special you haven't let up on it."

"What's a megaladon?"

Raf looked at Bee to answer, "It's a very big meat-eating fish that scientists believe is extinct. There is some evidence that some may still exist. The shark is so big that it eats whales." He pointed to the blue whale on the celling. "Something big enough to eat one of those is huge! There was a special on TV about it and it did provide some proof that one could exist."

"Good gosh…"

* * *

Climbing up the stairs, to the second floor, they walked into another exhibit hall. Darkstorm gasped, "Oh wow!"

Rocks and minerals of all shapes, sizes, colors, and forms surrounded them. Crystals glittered in the light, giving the hall a strange beautiful look. The minerals formed such strange and wondrous shapes.

Elita stopped at a glass case holding some white crystals, formed into a swirling wave shape. "God is not called 'The Master Craftsman' for nothing."

"That one looks fuzzy!" Moonracer smiled, child-like wonder in her eyes.

Emusa stared at a bright scarlet rock, "So these rocks all come from the earth?"

"Yea!"

"Ok… this is really interesting."

Lennox smiled, "If you think this is interesting, follow me." Everyone followed him into a smaller room with a single pedestal in the center. On the pedestal, under a glass case, a large, beautiful diamond glinted in the light.

"The Hope Diamond."

All stared at the beautiful stone. Fowler stepped back with camera in hand. "How about all the ladies get around the diamond." The men stepped back as the ladies gathered around.

"A picture of an earthen gem, and our gems."

"Fido… stop it."

* * *

Moving from the rock and mineral rooms, Emusa shuddered. "Skeletons… lots of them." All around were skeletons of different animals, classified by species.

Knock Out looked at them curiously, especially the human one. "So this is what you look like under all that flesh… interesting."

"That's really funny-lookin'…" the two younglings stared at an ostrich skeleton.

Their carrier walked around a corner and halted, backing up with a disgusted face. "Didn't need to see that…"

"What?"

"There is a shriveled up human body, skin and all." Her face contorted with total disgust.

Jack peeked around the corner. "Oh!" He looked back at the others. "Well, that body is over 3000 years old, so yea, it looks weird."

"What!" Skybreak went around the corner, "Oh frag! That is weird looking." The others followed and most just stared. Behind a wall of glass lay a human body; this body had dark brown, almost black, skin that clung to the bones and the face had a grotesque look to it.

Emusa grimaced, "And why would they display this?"

"It's a mummy." Raf chuckled lightly, "Normally human bodies would be just bones by this time but the ancient Egyptians buried their dead a certain way and preserved the bodies."

"That is still disgusting…"

* * *

They went through the human genes room and into the insect room. Agent Fowler left for a moment and came back with a pile of tickets in his hand.

"And what, may I ask, are those for?" Flareup sighed, hand on her hip.

He jabbed a thumb at a large white dome behind him. "They're for the butterfly experience."

"What's a butterfly?"

Skye pointed at a picture of said insect on a wall. "They're a really pretty type of insect. There's a bunch of them in that room and we're gonna go inside and see them."

"How long till we go in?"

"We need to get in line right now, because we're next." With that, they stood in line outside the dome.

Wheeljack cocked his head, "Why do they have an airlock?"

"Probably to keep the butterflies from escaping," Arcee shrugged.

A woman opened the airlock and allowed them entry. She smiled before speaking, "Hello, and welcome to the butterfly experience. We ask you to please be careful because there are butterflies everywhere, sometimes even on the floor, so watch your step. You may take as many pictures as you like and please do not touch the wings of the butterflies, because their wings are very delicate and will stop working at the touch." Her hand moved to the door handle, "Enjoy yourself and please remember to check yourself for clinging butterflies before you exit."

The door opened. Darkstorm caught her breath. Plants filled the room, as did the little insects, their bright colored wings flapped, giving the room a whimsical look. "Oh my…"

"Whoa!" Moonracer giggled happily before turning back to Dreadwing. "It's so beautiful! Oh! Dreadw… Daniel, don't move!"

"What?"

She pointed at his head. "There's one on your head."

He stopped as Miko pulled out her phone and snapped a photo. Darkstorm giggled at him before turning around; she suddenly stopped with a gasp. "Dawn?"

"Oh…" Skye giggled, "Don't worry Brian. She has a butterfly on her nose."

Bumblebee came around a chuckled. Darkstorm stared, cross-eyed, at the brilliant blue butterfly the sat directly on her nose. "It tickles…" She tried hard as she could to not laugh, but some giggles managed to escape her lips.

"This is beautiful," Predaking gently smiled as one of the insects landed on his arm.

"Carrier! Sire! Look!" Darksteel and Skylynx stared in amazement at a large moth. The moth was about 6 inches from wingtip to wingtip. "What is that?"

The worker came over and bent down beside the two younglings. "That is the Goliath Moth. It's one of the largest moths in the world."

"It's bigger than my hand!" Darksteel held up his hand beside the insect and smiled in amazement. The giant moth suddenly leapt from its perch and alighted on the youngling's hand. "Carrier! Sire! Look!"

"I see, Dustin." Flareup knelt beside her son as the two younglings stared at the moth. The moth took off once more, landing high up and out of reach.

Bumblebee chuckled at his sparkmate; Darkstorm playfully glared at him. _You're enjoying this too much._

_Sorry, but that butterfly has not left your nose, even when you walked around._

She rolled her eyes. _It's the same situation with that butterfly on your leg._

Bumblebee looked down and the smaller orange and yellow insect hanging on his pants leg.

"You two are quite the pair, with your little hitchhikers." Skybreak smirked.

"Oh, you can't talk," Knock Out chuckled, "Look at your sleeve."

He looked at his arm and sighed, "Fine… looks like I have one too."

Optimus lifted his son out of the stroller and held him in his arms. The infant giggled loudly, reaching out at all the bugs that fluttered past. He stopped as one landed on his nose; Optimus and Elita laughed lightly as Rodimus sneezed, scaring the butterfly off.

"It tickled your nose, didn't it?" the sparkling reached out for his mother and laughed, quickly diverting his attention as another butterfly came close and he reached for it.

Eventually, they left the butterfly dome, leaving the museum.

"Finally," Bulkhead stretched, "time for lunch."

Lennox pointed to some food trucks parked by the sidewalk. "What do you guys want?"

"Just food, I don't care what kind."

The military man left and quickly returned with a bunch of hot dogs. "So," Arcee took a bite, "we have one more thing, right?"

"Yep, the American History museum."

Wheeljack took one large bite of his hot dog, finishing it off. "Let's get moving then."

* * *

The museum looked a bit smaller than the others but, once inside, it looked impressive. They followed the crowd to a dimly lit room.

"Why is everyone gathered around that pair of shoes?" All looked to the pair of red, shining shoes, Arcee mentioned.

Skye's face lit up, "Oh my gosh! Those are Dorothy's ruby slippers!"

"Dorothy's ruby slippers?"

"Oh mech!" Skye looked to Jack, "We did wrong, Jack."

The boy nodded, "We never showed them that movie."

"What movie?"

"_The Wizard of Oz._" Miko turned to the government agent, "Fowler, we have an emergency. We never showed them _The Wizard of Oz_. We must get a copy at once!"

He nodded and walked briskly away. "Whoa," Skybreak whistled, "What did we miss?"

"It's our fault. We never showed you one of the greatest American classics, and those shoes are a big part of said classic."

Emusa looked to her sparkmate. _I think I know what we'll be watching tonight._

_You're probably right…_

_I always am!_

* * *

Heading upstairs, one room drew the mechs attention. Wheeljack grinned, "An entire wing dedicated to America's wars."

"Let's go check it out!" Going into the entrance, the Autobots stood amazed at the information they saw.

Optimus laid his hand upon a glass case containing the sword surrendered by the British at the end of the Revolutionary war. "It is amazing. Looking at human history, there are so many similarities between our kind and theirs."

"It seems that some things transcend physical appearance."

"Yes, it does."

They continued to walk through the wars and came to the Civil War. Arcee crossed her arms and stared at the exhibits, her spark clenching at the similarities between this war and the one on Cybertron: brother against brother, Sire against son, friend against friend.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" She turned to Wheeljack beside her, "Our two species are so different in appearance and yet we go through the same problems, experiences, and even events in history. We had a war, when we rebelled against the Quintessons, like they did with England, and we also had a civil war."

The femme sighed, "Different, and yet the same in many ways…"

* * *

"So, this is what you were talking about earlier today."

At the end of the war room, they came to a part about the 'war on terror'. A large piece of twisted steel stood in the room. Along the wall stood pictures of the twin towers in flames.

"9/11…" Jack sighed, "That day changed our country."

"I remember…" Lennox stared at the pictures

Fowler stood beside him, "So do I… and I was close to being one of those listed as dead, that day."

"What?"

Lennox spoke first. "Four planes… four passenger planes were hijacked. Two were purposely flown into the World Trade Center, a third crashed into the Pentagon building, and the forth never made it to its destination; the passengers rose up and crashed the plane so that more innocent people wouldn't die." The Autobots looked at the pictures in shock. "I was in basic training when it happened. Our entire base went on lockdown as we got reports of what happened."

"The third plane, the one that crashed into the Pentagon building…" Fowler took a seat on a bench in the room's center. "I was inside the Pentagon building when it hit. I was late for a meeting, a meeting that happened to be in the very room where the nose of the plane hit. If I had made it on time, I would've died that day, like everyone else in that room. It is by the grace of God that I'm still here today."

Jack huffed. "Miko and I were too young to remember."

"And I was just a baby," Raf added.

"I don't remember much," Skye admitted, "Only that when I got home from school it was all over the news. Out of those killed, only 67 were British citizens, but it was enough to get a response from our country. After moving to America and going to the site of the twin towers, what I saw on the TV that day became more real to me."

Darkstorm's eyes filled with tears; this unprovoked attack had such an impact upon the human race. It broke her spark to see how they suffered.

"And this piece of metal," Dreadwing approached the piece of steel, "it is from inside one of the World Trade Center buildings?"

"Yep… both buildings collapsed after the planes hit them."

Elita looked at the pictures. "Those poor humans…"

"We've been through a lot," Lennox crossed his arms, "but we've come out strong… a little paranoid, but strong."

* * *

Leaving the museum, as they rode the subway back, Optimus's processor mulled over all he heard and saw today.

_Orion… _

_My apologies, Ariel. I just cannot fathom how closely our species really are. _

_Maybe, _Elita sighed, _maybe, we are more human-like than we realized. _

_Maybe…_ their concentration was broken as Rodimus giggled, pulling on his carrier's sleeve.

"Ok!" Miko smiled at the group, "Fowler and Lennox are going to get us a catering tray from Subway while we go watch _The Wizard of Oz_. Afterwards, you boys can finish your _Lord of the Rings_ and the rest of us can chill."

Jack sat up straight, "And I'd get some serious rest because we're going to visit all the monuments tomorrow, which means we'll be walking outside, in the heat, all day tomorrow."

As half the party groaned, Skye giggled. "But, tomorrow night all the couples will have a date night while the rest are gonna chill."

"Well that'll certainly be interesting; can't wait!"

Flareup glared at the Japanese girl. "And don't you dare loan us another movie after what happened last night." She turned on her sparkmate, "And don't you even start that again!"

"As you wish."

"Fido!"

* * *

I couldn't help myself. Flare and Predaking needed to see _The Princess Bride _it would be so fun.

This one wasn't as funny and the next one will be a bit more serious with them visiting the monuments, specifically the war monuments.

I hope ya'll enjoyed it.

Please review!

Next time, they group goes on a long walk to visit all the monuments. The thing they have been realizing more and more will become clearer still as they see things and meet people that will touch their sparks.

In **Day 4: Monument Memorials **


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everyone!

I might not update anything for a while because of something… something I don't want to talk about.

I hope you guys enjoy this one.

I own nothing! Transformers and all its characters belong to Hasbro. Darkstorm and Skybreak belong to Dream's Realm! Skye belongs to Blondie- moyashi!

* * *

**Day 4: Monument Memorials**

"I said it last night, and I'll say it again. That movie was stupid!"

Skye crossed her arms, "Well, you have no appreciation for the classics, Em."

"I thought it was fun," Smokescreen kissed his sparkmate's forehead, "I especially liked the tin man."

Knock Out smirked, "I happened to enjoy _The Wizard of Oz_. It was playful and colorful."

Arcee shook her head, "At least you haven't been subjected to movies like _The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Purge: Anarchy, _or _Freddy Vs. Jason_."

"You should've joined us with _Lord of the Rings_." Wheeljack put his arm around her. "It was very enjoyable."

"Try violent…"

Jack clapped his hands together, "We can talk as we walk. Today we're going to walk around and visit all the monuments."

"Lots of walking… yeah…"

Miko grinned, "Well, after all that walking, all the bonded couples have a date night while Lennox is going to take the rest of us somewhere really fun."

"Well," Predaking smiled, "That certainly sounds fun."

* * *

They unloaded off the subway at the monument stop. They walked down the sidewalk towards a tall obelisk.

"So this is the Washington monument up close? That thing's really tall!"

Darksteel stared up at the large stone structure in awe. "We saw this the day we went to the Air and Space museum."

"Yep!"

The two younglings stared up at the massive building. "Humans made all this…? It's amazing…"

"It truly is amazing… humans have such imaginations and skills, despite their small sizes and…" Knock Out looked at his friends before speaking anymore, "squishy bodies."

Miko punched his shoulder lightly, "Keep talking like that and I'll ask Storm to stick you in this holoform for a much longer time."

"You wouldn't…?!"

Bulkhead and Wheeljack nodded, "She would…"

* * *

They walked along, laughing and teasing, until they came to the reflection pool. Before the pool lay a fountain with two semicircles of pillars around it.

The area became silent with a sort of reverence. "What is this place?"

"This is the World War 2 monument."

They stepped into the monument and became silent; even the younglings, whose voices were loud moments before, became quiet.

Darkstorm turned her head, her eyes catching a quote carved on her left. Her eyes widened as the words met her eyes. '_Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy… no matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.- Franklin D. Roosevelt'_

"Pearl Harbor…" Skye came over beside her friend. "That day brought us into the war. Japan performed a pre-meditative sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Destroyed our naval fleet there; two of the ships sank completely, you can still see them down under the water and there are still dead men, trapped in them."

"That's horrible…"

Arcee walked to the north side and looked at the round copings around a fountain near an arched walkway and pillars. She looked down at the words there: the names of the battle fronts of part of the war and the battles fought there. '_North Africa * Southern Europe * Western Europe * Central Europe * Battle of the Atlantic * Murmansk Run * Tunisia * Sicily Salerno Anzio Rome Po Valley * Normandy * St. Lo * Air War in Europe * Alsace * Rhineland * Huertgen Forest * Battle of the Bulge * Remagen Bridge * Germany' _

The femme took the hand of Wheeljack, who stood beside her. "How… how did I ever look at humans as a weaker species that had no idea what we went through?"

"It's ok, Cee…" he turned his head and his eyes widened. "Cee… look."

The two watched as two men approached the copings: one very old and the other young. The old man broke away from the other and knelt before the words '_Battle of the Bulge'_.

Arcee's eyes widened as she realized that this old man, kneeling before the monument, was a veteran, specifically that battle. Tears came to her eyes and she blinked them back.

Flareup and Predaking walked along the southern fountain coping, looking at the battles listed there. '_China * Burma * India * Southwest Pacific * Central Pacific * North Pacific * Pearl Harbor * Wake Island * Bataan Corregidor * Coral Sea * Midway * Guadalcanal * New Guinea * Buna * Tarawa * Kwajalein * Attu * Saipan Tinian Guam * Philippine Sea * Peleliu * Leyte Gulf * Luzon * Manila * Iwo Jima * Okinawa * Japan' _

"My beautiful warrior," Predaking looked to his sparkmate as she stopped, staring at the coping, "what is it?"

He felt sorrow through their bond as he approached. Before the words _'Saipan Tinian Guam'_ lay a yellow piece of paper.

The couple read the paper, the words cutting them to the spark…

_'Dear Dad, _

_I miss you so much. My birthday just passed a week ago, I wish you could've been there. _

_I am always grateful of the sacrifice you gave for my . _

_I love you Dad._

_From, your loving daughter, Stephanie._

_P.s. I wish you could see your grandchildren, you would be so proud.'_

The femme bit her lip as she clasped Predaking's servo. "This… this was not what I expected."

"Humans are more like us then we thought," he drew her close, "they live, they fight, they die… just like we do. Our war was not much different from theirs." His golden eyes looked around the monument. "The war's end: Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won. The skies no longer rain death- the seas bear only commerce- men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is quietly at peace."

"How poetic, Fido…"

His hand pointed to one of the walls, where the words were inscribed. "A quote from a General Douglas MacArthur."

"It's very true…"

* * *

The silence reigned as they walked beside the reflection pool. Skybreak broke the quiet, though he kept his voice soft. "What monument are we going to next?"

"Vietnam… this one is almost more solemn than the last one. It was more recent and many times there are many veterans around."

They went off the main path towards their right and saw a small granite wall covered in writing. The writing, upon closer inspection, turned out to be names: names of those who died in the war or from injuries from the war.

Elita's eyes welled with tears as she looked upon a nearby statue; the bronze statue was of three men in their battle gear, as if they were heading off to fight. She felt an arm slip around her. "Ariel, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she turned to her sparkmate and son. "It just hits me, how much the human race has endured, even in these recent years."

"I know… I understand…"

Dreadwing walked along the wall of names, his spark clenching at the sight of so many lost; he stopped. A man, an older man, stood at the wall, his hand upon it. He noticed Dreadwing staring. "Hello there…"

"I apologize, I didn't mean to stare."

"It's all right, young man." The elder took his hand off the wall and held it out. "What's your name?"

Dreadwing shook his outstretched hand, "Daniel… and yours?"

"General Christian Wright."

"General?"

The old man chuckled, "Yes, I'm still in. I refuse to retire till the Lord takes me."

"That's quite the commitment," the mech chuckled with him. He gestured to the wall. "Did you… know some of these men?"

He nodded, "Four… back in Nam, I lead a small squadron in scouting missions. One day, we were out on a mission and we were ambushed… I was the only one who made it out alive. Jerry Conners, Shawn Patters, Carter Woodland, and Kent Willers: they all died that day."

"I'm sorry… I lost my twin brother in combat…"

The man placed a hand on his shoulder, "It never gets easier…"

"No," Dreadwing's gaze went to Moonracer, "but some people can help you deal with it."

General Wright followed his gaze and smiled. "Oh, the joys of the young… enjoy them…" He smiled, "It was nice meeting you, Daniel."

"Likewise, General." He saluted, and the man saluted back.

* * *

The group, now chatting lightly, walked up the Lincoln Memorial stairs. Bulkhead took off jogging up the rest of the way and held up his arms above his head.

"Cut it out, Rocky Balboa." Miko elbowed him in the stomach playfully.

They walked up to the giant stone memorial of Abraham Lincoln. Turning to the right and left, they could see writing etched into the walls. On one side was the Gettysburg Address and on the other was Lincoln's second inaugural address.

It seemed to Optimus, with everything he read, he grew more and more inspired by what human kind thought and accomplished. These words here, were no different.

* * *

They took the long walk from the Korean War monument to the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. They came around the Tidal Basin to the Roosevelt memorial.

On the way over, Jack whispered something to Lennox who nodded with a grin. Jack moved ahead a bit, coming alongside Miko and Bulkhead; Lennox took off at a jog and passed him. As he passed the boy, he said one simple line that made many of the group laugh. "On your left!"

"I knew that was coming!" Miko laughed "There had to be a _Captain America: The Winter Soldier_ reference coming, sooner or later."

The laughter and joking continued until they reached the long granite monument. The many bronze statues and the many quotes lined the structure.

"Storm? Is there something wrong?" Bumblebee felt a twinge of pain through their bond. He approached her, following her gaze to the writing carved on the wall. "Oh…" Taking her hand, the two looked at the wall. The scout could feel Darkstorm's agony as memories of the battlefield and Decepticon med-bay filled her thoughts.

'_I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded… I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed… I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.'_

"It's hard… having these memories." She wrapped her arms about herself with a deep frown. "I did horrible things on the battlefield… I experienced everything written there… everything….."

She felt Bumblebee's arms wrap around her comfortingly. "Don't think on them anymore."

* * *

All trudged along, tired and footsore from the long walk as they came to the final monument, the Jefferson memorial.

They walked into the shaded, roman-like building, where the tall statue of the man stood. Everyone sat down in the shade and took off their shoes… save two.

Skye leaned on her sparkmate's shoulder as they looked at the quotes on the walls. "They really knew how to write good speeches back then, didn't they?"

"Yea, they did," Smokescreen nodded, "So where are these quotes from, exactly."

The brit looked around before answering as she pointed to each quote. "The Declaration of Independence, Jefferson's letters to Dr. Benjamin Rush, George Wythe, George Washington, and Samuel Kercheval , A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, View of the Rights of British America, and Notes on the State of Virginia."

"This guy sure wrote a lot…"

"Yep," she looked at him, "are you ready for tonight?"

He raised an eyebrow, "It's a date night with you… what do you think?" He kissed her forehead, "I'm thrilled for tonight!"

* * *

The group took the subway back to the hotel early that day, narrowly avoiding rush hour.

"Ok," Fowler said, "In an hour, a government-paid limo will be out here to pick up the bonded couples for their date night. Then, another limo will come, a few minutes later, to take the others to where they're going to hang out tonight."

"Is it gonna be fun?"

"Oh yea, you guys are gonna love it!"

The government agent smiled, "I know the femmes are gonna want to get ready, so you guys better split." Everyone headed off to their rooms to prepare for that night.

* * *

An hour later, Fowler watched as the limo pulled up; he glanced at his watch before hearing the elevator ding.

A smile crossed his face as the couples filed out. The mechs were all in suits while the femmes wore dazzling evening gowns.

Elita wore a long rose-colored gown with a violet top. Emusa's dress was very short and a bright scarlet. Flareup's gown was a long red-orange and the bottom was shorter in the front than the back, with a black lace over one of her shoulders. Skye had on a simple, long green dress with yellow sleeves collar. Darkstorm wore a short black dress with a purple, lace strap going over her right shoulder.

"Well," Knock Out smirked, "This trip may be a little more interesting than originally intended."

Skye playfully glared at him, "Nice to know you appreciate all the hard work we did to set this up for you guys."

"Oh we do," Emusa smirked, "Slick just doesn't want to admit it though."

"I hope Rodimus will be ok…"

"Don't worry," the agent said, "I'll be keeping a good eye on him while you guys are out."

They all smiled and climbed into the limo. "Have fun you guys!"

Fowler watched as the limo drove off and another pulled in, a bigger one. The single people and the kids came out of the elevator. "So, where we going?"

Fowler smiled as he took the sleeping Rodimus from the arms of Moonracer. "Oh, just a little place called Incredible Pizza."

"Incredible Pizza!" Raf grinned from ear to ear, "I love that place!"

Darksteel cocked his head. "What'll we get to do there?"

"It'll be fun," Jack to him, "They have games, laser-tag, go-carts, bowling, food, and a lot more stuff."

"Awesome!" The group piled into the limo and headed off.

Miko tried to keep herself quiet on the ride there but couldn't contain herself. "I'm gonna kick all your afts at laser-tag and go-carts!"

"Ok, what is 'laser-tag' anyways?"

"A game, in which, I don't think she'll be able to make good on her threat." Jack laughed. "Everyone wears a vest with these sensors in it. Then they get these toy guns that turn on a laser-light when you pull the trigger. The vest and gun will shut down temporarily if you get 'shot'!"

Wheeljack's eyes glinted, "So it's a shooting game?"

"And not just any shooting game," Arcee added with a smirk, "One where we shoot at each other."

"Whatever happens," Jack raised his hand, "I call Moonracer and Arcee on my team."

The banter continued until they reached their destination; Colonel Lennox awaited them. He handed each of them a card. "You guys have unlimited everything until we go, which is at midnight. So, have fun!"

"To laser-tag!" Taking their cards, the entire bunch moved to the one event.

The ones who were skilled in combat, tried to split up evenly… for the moment. Arcee, Jack, Dreadwing, Skybreak, Skylynx, and Bulkhead were on the blue team with Miko, Wheeljack, Darksteel, Moonracer, Colonel Lennox, and Raf on the red.

A lady came into the room where they were gearing up. "Ok guys, who's ready to play?"

"I am!" Skylynx exclaimed happily.

"And what's your name?"

"Sloan."

She ruffled his hair, "Well then, lets go. We're going to have to set some rules first for safety. We will have no running: the room is dark and we don't want anyone tripping over something or someone. No laying down, for that same reason. We do get a lot of military people sometimes, and I'm guessing some of you are in that group, but we need to keep it kid-safe. So there is no jumping off the second story as well. Got it?"

"Sounds good," Skybreak held up his weapon. "Let's do this thing."

"All right." She moved towards the door to the room where the game would be played, "You have seven minutes… now go!" She threw the door open and the fun began…

* * *

Darkstorm stood on the large balcony of the restaurant; the food was amazing and she was so glad for this night. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her lovingly. "Earth's night sky is so beautiful."

"Just like you…" Bumblebee smiled as he kissed her cheek. The two stood there, swaying slowly to the soft music floating in from the dining area. "You know… I think our last dance was on Valentine's Day."

The femme turned around in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Shall we dance then?" They swayed back and forth to the music, eyes locked.

* * *

Emusa reached for the last chocolate-covered strawberry on the dessert tray but another hand came and took it before her. "Huh? Well that's just rude…"

"I didn't know you liked those that much?"

"Oh," she turned to see Knock Out, nearby, who smirked. "Don't mock me, Slick…"

"I wasn't…" He hooked arms with her and the two went back to their table. "I just didn't know you like chocolate-covered strawberries."

"Why would it truly matter?"

He took napkin from over a plate. "Why else?"

Emusa smirked happily, "Oh Slick! You are wonderful!" She kissed him lovingly before picking up the plate that had been covered with the napkin: the plate with five chocolate-covered strawberries on it.

"Why thank you, my dear!"

* * *

"I've never really been somewhere this fancy, well, not since my sister had those fancy parties of hers. Even then, I never really participated in anything."

"Really?" Predaking took her hand in his. "You never participated in anything?"

Flareup shook her head. "I never danced, drank any high-grade, or anything like that. I only ate some."

"Hm…" the mech looked over at the dance-floor before taking Flareup's hand. "Then, why don't we change that?"

"Fido, what are you…?"

He led her to the dance-floor. "I'm going to give you your first dance, my beloved warrior." He wrapped one arm around her waist and grabbed her other hand. Together, they glided across the dance-floor, completely in sync with each other and the music.

"I never knew you could waltz, Fido."

"I did learn a few things from watching some of those human films we have around the base." He smiled before leaning in and kissing her.

* * *

Skye and Smokescreen sat at a table, quietly eating, well, Skye was. Her sparkmate stared at her with dreamy eyes.

"What?" The girl cocked her head slightly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're just so… beautiful."

The girl blushed. "Oh, cut it out."

Taking, Skye's hand, he kissed it lightly. "What? You know it's the truth." He turned and looked towards the dance-floor. "Well, look at that." They saw Predaking and Flareup dancing. "Hey, why don't we join them?"

"I don't see why not…" the two stood and walked onto the dance-floor, beginning to dance alongside the other couple.

"You didn't have to join us…"

Skye smiled at Flareup. "Why not? You looked all lonely out her with just you two."

* * *

Optimus smiled as he saw his the others enjoying themselves.

"You seem happy." Elita laid her hand on his.

He smiled, "I'm glad that the war is over and we can have nights like this, nights to relax and spend with our love ones." He looked to each of the couples gathered. "Autobots, Decepticons, and Neutrals together peacefully. Then, there's Cybertronians and humans together and we've come to become more than just friends, but family."

"Yes," Elita smiled as she leaned on her sparkmate's shoulder, "a wonderful family."

* * *

Hope you guys enjoyed it! Little bit of romance at the end for you guys! (blondie, I hope you enjoyed the Skye X Smokescreen bit)

Please review!

Next time… it's Sunday and the entire group decides to take a true day off and chill at the mall. In… **Day 5: Sunday Chill!**


End file.
